2 Thenmaraadchi civilians seek protection with Jaffna HRC

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 September 2007, 18:33 GMT]Two men sought protection with the Jaffna Human Rights Commission (HRC), Thursday, due to death threats and several abduction attempts by the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) and SLA-backed paramilitary.

The two men, ages 31 and 27, each a father of two, in a statement said they faced problems when traveling along the A9 route from Thenmaraadchi to Jaffna HRC, and have been living in fear since being summoned to appear at a a Thenmaraadchi Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camp.

There is a rising trend in civilians deaths and abductions in the Thenmaraadchi area caused by the SLA and SLA-backed paramilitary, civil society sources in Thenmaraadchi said.

Meanwhile, SLA and LTTE exchanged heavy artillery fire Thursday morning at the Front Defence Lines (FDL) in Thenmaraadchi. SLA claimed to have inflicted damages to LTTE, while the LTTE did not issue any information about the artillery exchange.